Origins In 1858,
New York City businessmen began working to bring streetcar service to
Washington, D.C., where transit consisted of horse-drawn wagons (
omnibuses) operated on several lines. On May 17, 1862, the
United States Congress enacted legislation that incorporated the first Washington streetcar company: the Washington and Georgetown Railroad ("Washington and Georgetown Railway Company", according to some official sources) and authorized it to build three street
horsecar lines. Its officers included President
Henry D. Cooke (brother of Civil War financier
Jay Cooke); John Carter Marbury of Georgetown, George Gideon and Harris C. Fahnestock of Washington, D.C.;
Edward W. Clark and J. Barlow Moorehead of Philadelphia; and
William A. Darling of New York. The W&GRC's first streetcar ran on
Pennsylvania Avenue NW from the
Capitol building to the
State Department on July 29, 1862. Full operations, from the
Navy Yard to
Georgetown on Pennsylvania Avenue NW/SE, began on October 2, 1862. It expanded south to the Arsenal (now
Fort McNair) in 1875. A third line, built by 1870, In 1877, the W&GRC bought the Old Buthcher's Market (formerly a tobacco warehouse) on the 3200 block of M Street for $40,000; the next year, it purchased the wharf across the canal on Grace Street for $6,000. Later in 1878, it began work on buildings on both properties. On the north side of the canal, on M Street, it built a two-story building with offices and a waiting room; a car house that could hold 70 cars; and on each side of the car house, a stable—one small and one large—which together could accommodate 360 horses and a shoeing shop. On the south side, on Grace Street, it built a three-story building with workshops, a granary, a hay barn, and storage space for machinery such as snow plows and summer cars, corn and hay bales. The building also held a 40-hp turbine wheel driven by the canal and machinery for steam power. The buildings were connected by a bridge three stories above the canal, enabling grain to move north to the stables and manure south to the canal. Work was completed in 1879. The W&GRC competed with
omnibus companies, or chariots, as they were known. It drove the Northern Liberty Chariot company to bankruptcy in 1877, but a new one that operated between Georgetown and Capitol Hill forced the W&GRC to lower prices. On Oct 14, 1879, the W&GRC bought out this second competitor, acquiring its stables on High Street (now
Wisconsin Avenue) just south of the W&GCR shops on Grace.
Switch to cable cars On March 2, 1889, the District authorized every streetcar company in Washington to switch from horse power to
underground cable or to electricity provided by battery or
underground wires (
overhead wires were banned). The following year, companies were authorized to sell stock to pay for the upgrades. In 1892, one-horse cars were banned within the city, and by 1894, Congress began requiring companies to switch from horse power. Immediately after the 1889 law was passed, the Washington and Georgetown began installing an underground cable system, adding five new facilities to handle the cable operations. The 7th Street line was switched to a cable car system on April 12, 1890, with 16 cars traveling on the route at at three-minute
intervals, from 5 a.m. to 1a.m. daily. The entire system was in operation by August 18, 1892, The company built two
powerhouses to provide electricity for the system: one at 14th and E Streets NW and the other at 7th and P Streets SW. A large wheel pit was constructed in the middle of the intersection of 14th Street NW and Pennsylvania Avenue NW.
The end of the line By the mid-1890s, there were numerous streetcar companies operating in the District. Congress tried to deal with this fractured transit system by requiring them to accept
transfers and set standard pricing and by allowing them to use one another's track. But eventually it became clear that
consolidation was the best solution. On March 1, 1895, Congress authorized the sale of the Washington and Georgetown Railroad to the
Rock Creek Railway, a company with less operating revenue but more ability to raise money by issuing stock. The deal went through on September 21, 1895, forming the
Capital Traction Company, the first company created during "the great streetcar consolidation". == External links ==